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3 week old Growth spurt and supplementing

I dont know where to begin, but i breastfed my last child for over 2 years with the normal amount of problems in the beginning. My new baby is a little differnt. She wants to be nursing non stop all day long. I knew this was a growth spurt but after no sleep for two days nursing her i was exhausted. I gave into supplementing after non stop stop nursing and she was still incredibly hungry...sucking on her fist, screaming/crying. It didnt help that my boyfriend and his parents continued to tell mento give her formula saying she was starving. As of now, i nurse her until she is not swallowing anything 1 hour or so and if she is hungry after swing, being held, i give her a bottle. I pump while my boyfriend giver her a bottle.
I know that ive created a problem since now she is only interested in nursing when the there is a let down. She doesnt really want to work for it. She will turn her head, squirm and after me keeping her on the breast, she will fall asleep until i put her down ...and then it will start again. I will try both breast 4 times each side....i do compressions. My milk supply doesnt seem to be enough to satisfy her and now she doesnt want to work to get all of milk. I know that people will say to breastfeed her on demand and that she is trying to build up supply. But realistically, to stay a sane mother, i dont know how to do this. I can keep her on my breast all day but lack of any sleep really makes me give into supplementing and that downward spiral.

Re: 3 week old Growth spurt and supplementing

Welcome to the forum!

Some questions for you:
- At this point, how much are you supplementing? After every feeding, or just the ones where baby seems particularly hungry? How many oz of formula are you using per day? And how long have you been supplementing for- a few days? A few weeks?
- How does nursing feel, in general? Is it comfortable for you?
- Is baby sleepy at all, perhaps dozing off at the breast after only a short time?
- Are you currently taking any hormonal contraception?
- What sort of support are you getting from your SO and family? Are they willing to do the non-baby-related chores like shopping, cooking, cleaning, and caring for your older child?

Re: 3 week old Growth spurt and supplementing

Thanks for replying. I've been supplementing about 3 bottles if 2.5 ounces everyday for a week now after I nurse her. The nursing is active for about 5 minutes and then she either starts to suckle/fall sleep with many attempts to wake her up
and use compression or she cries as nd squirms off my breast. Now I'm afraid to pump after because or power naps could llast 5 minutes and now I pumped most milk out which will make it even worse and lead to supplement soon after. She latches fine but is now lazy to nurse...
I love breastfeeding and am comfortable with it. She does sleep but im afraid it's because She's tired and gives up

Re: 3 week old Growth spurt and supplementing

So baby is 3 weeks now-when exactly did baby start nursing non stop and you started supplementing?

Before that, was weight gain normal? Output-poops-normal?

Because if your baby has been gaining normally, then what you might have here is a fussy baby who is getting enough to eat at the breast, but simply requires much more comforting/loving stimuli/ something than your older baby. YES, it is best in general to offer the breast, as it is usually quite comforting. But that does not mean you never can try other comforting methods as well. Assuming baby is gaining well and nursing enough overall (10 or more times a 24 hour day at this age) if you are too exhausted to offer the breast for a time, comfort baby some other way. Or better yet, have some one else comfort baby while you get some shut-eye.

My point is the formula is food, an artificial breastmilk substitute, not comfort. Giving a baby formula is only appropriate if the baby cannot get adequate amounts of breastmilk to thrive. A baby being fussy, even very fussy, even right after nursing, does not necessarily indicate the baby is not getting enough.

If your baby is not gaining well despite nursing frequently, it may be appropriate to supplement baby until it can be figured out WHY baby is not gaining well despite nursing with normal frequency. But giving your baby formula just because she is fussy is simply giving her food that she does not need and possibly will do harm to your milk production and your breastfeeding relationship with your baby if you continue.
fussy baby ideas http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...ybabyideas.pdf

Re: 3 week old Growth spurt and supplementing

Since you're supplementing just 3 times a day, and have been supplementing for only a week, and the supplemental bottles are relatively small, I suggest approaching this problem in one of 2 ways:
1. Drop all the supplements at once. Put the bottles on the shelf and throw the formula in the trash. Nurse, nurse, nurse, and nurse some more. If anyone complains or suggests formula, tell them that they can go wash your dishes, do your laundry, take care of your other child, walk the dog, cook a meal, order take-out, sweep the floor- in short, they can do anything they want as long as it is supportive. Don't tolerate the undermining, not from your boyfriend and not from his parents.
2. Phase out the supplements. Reduce the amounts in the bottle by about half, and increase the amount you nurse. In a couple of days, decrease the amounts in the supplemental bottles by 2/3, while nursing as much as possible. Then take it down to nothing. And again, don't tolerate undermining from ANYBODY. I would make it crystal clear that negative comments about nursing or suggestions to use formula will get people booted out of the house.

I would take either step very soon, because it seems like bottles and formula are already having a negative impact on your baby's ability to nurse.

Re: 3 week old Growth spurt and supplementing

Since I had been giving formula to the baby, she had been fussy, gassy and constipated. I think it had a something to do with not wanting to actively nurse..the past couple if days I managed to only give her breast milk as supplement instead of formula and she has regular bowel movement a now. Yesterday I only gave her two bottle s of 2 oz breast milk and today it's only been one bottle of breast milk .1 ounce. She seems a bit more satisfied and sleeping better. Over all everything s been working. Everything seems to work a little better with some sleep. Lolthank u all for replying and giving mensonwords of encouragement and help.